Yarn-tension device



L. T. HOUGHTON.

YARN TENSION DEVICE APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, m2.

Patented May 6, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 L. T. HOUGHTON.

YARN TENSION DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24. I917.

1,303,202. Patented May.6,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET L LEWIS T. HOUGHTON, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ARN-Tension DEVICE. j

Specification of Letters Patent. 7

Patented May 6, 1919.

Continuation in part of application Serial No. 123,621, filed October 14, 1916. This application filed September 24, 1917. Serial No. 192,876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS T. HoUcH'roN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of iVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Yarn-Tension Device, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a yarn tension device particularly adapted for applying tension to yarn as it approaches the usual yarn guide of a spooler or other rewinding machine. V Certain difficulties are encountered in handling yarn in such machines which render the provision of a suitable tension device a matter of great importance.

These ditficulties are increased when the yarn is drawn from cop-wound or fillingwound bobbins, on which the yarn is laid in relatively short conical layers. With this type of winding, there is a wide variation in the drag of the yarn. When unwlnding toward the base of the cone the drag is light but varies as the effective diameter increases. when unwinding toward the tip of the bobbin, the drag is'extremely irregular, as the yarn is pulled from below the succeeding turns, which often retards the unwinding of the yarn. If in addition the yarn lies in a small depression in the conical yarn surface, the drag is materially increased at that point. 0

It is an important obJect of my mvention to provide a tension device which will adapt itself readily to varying conditions of yarn delivery and which will relieve sudden or excessive strains before the yarn is broken.

Certain kinds of yarn have a marked tendency to snarl or kink as they leave the bobbin, and another obj ect of my inventlon' is to provide a tension device which w1ll successfully straighten such snarls or kinks before the yarn reaches the regular yarn guide, the latter device being unsuited for straighten ing the yarn.

Yarn frequently also contains much loose dirt, burs, and other waste material, and it is a further object of my invention to provide means by which such foreign substances may be to a large extent removed by a vibratory action upon the yarn as it passes through the tension device.

W'ith these general objects in view, the preferred form of my invention consists of a plurality of fixed tension guides or rods,

therewith, and a movable support for said fingers extending transversely of said tension guides and adjustable to vary the tension on the yarn by moving the tension fingers toward or away from the tension guides. An important additional feature of my invention relatesto'the provision of means for yieldingly holding the tension fingers in operative or inoperative position while at the same time permitting slight free vibration of said fingens when in operative position, thereby relieving momentary strains upon the yarn and largely freeing the yarn from waste material. p I p A further novel feature of my invention relates to certain novel constructions in the bobbin supporting portion thereof by means of which a bobbin of any length may be supported-in any desired relation to the guiding and tension devices.

Additional features of my invention relate to details of construction and arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of my invention is shown in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved tension device', certain parts thereof being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a partial front elevation of certain portions of the bobbin support, looking in the direction of the arrow Sin Fig. 1;

Fig. a is a plan view of the same parts, looking inthe direction of the arrow 4: in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the lower part of the bobbin support taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; V I

Fig. 6 isa partial plan view of the stand and the tension guide rods supported thereby;

, Fig. 7 is a partial plan view of the tension fingers, together with the pivoted support and bracket therefor; I

F ig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the same parts taken along the line 8-8 in Fig. 7 and Fig. 9 is a similar view but showing the parts in a different position.

I have shown'my improved yarn tension device as mounted upon a supporting bar 10 in position to guide the yarn Y from a bobbin B to a spool S, the yarn approaching the spool through the usual yarn guide G. I will first describe the means for supporting the bobbin in any suitable position relative to the tension guide rods and tension fingers.

As shown in the drawings, the bobbin support comprises a vertical member 11 (Fig. 1) preferably formed from angle iron or sheet metal forged to present an L-shaped section and having a portion 11 (Figs. 1 and 4) rearwardly bent and recessed to engage the bar 10. The rearwardly extending or body portion 11 of the vertical member 11 is similarly notched or recessed at its upper end to engage the bar 10, as shown in Fig. 4:, and is provided with a slot 12 at its lower end. A. clamp 13 (Fig. 1) engages the member 11 and also the rear side of the bar 10 and may be drawn firmly against said parts by a clamping screw 14, thus holding the bobbin support in adjusted position both angularly and longitudinally of the bar 10.

A horizontal member 15 of the bobbin support is provided with a slot 16, the members 15 and 11 being secured together by a bolt 17 and nut 18, the bolt 17 extending through the slots 12 and 16, which slots permit relative adjustment of the members 11 and 15 in any desired direction. A dead spindle 19 is yieldingly mounted in a base 20 secured to an offset flange of the member 15 and furnishes a support for the bobbin B. The details of construction of the dead spindle and base form no part'of my present invention.

For tensioning the yarn Y as it passes from the bobbin B to the yarn guide G I provide a series of tension guide rods 21 and tension guide fingers 22. The tension rods 21 are mounted in a stand 23 preferably forged from sheet material and having an L-shaped section. The upper or horizontal portion 23 of said stand is provided with an upturned edge 24 having notches 24; within which certain of the tension rods 21 are positioned. Perforations 25 in said up per portion 23 receive the downturned ends of the guide rods, which may be riveted therein to firmly hold the rods in position. The portion 23 is also provided with a downturned flange 26 recessed to engage the bar 10. The vertical flange 23 of the stand 23 is similarly recessed and the stand is secured in position on the bar 10 by a clamp 27 best shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6. A clamping bolt 28 is provided for adjustably securing the stand to the bar.

A depending U-shaped member 30 is riveted or otherwise secured to the stand 23 and a bracket 31 is adjustably secured to the member 30 by the use of a clamping plate 32, bolt 33 and nut 34. The bracket 31 is preferably formed of a single piece of sheet material and includes a horizontal portion 31*, bearing lugs 36, a lug 37 having a rectangular perforation 38 therethrough, and a flange 39 having a notch 10 therein, these details of construction being best shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

A support 41 for the tension fingers 22 is pivotally connected to the lugs 36 by a rod or short shaft 12, said support extending transversely beneath the tension guide rods. This support may also be conveniently formed of a single piece of sheet material and comprises a top and depending sides and ends. The ends are punched or otherwise perforated to receive the rod -12 and the depending sides are also punched or perforated to receive the tension fingers 22, said fingers extending through the perforations in one side and being riveted or otherwise secured in the perforations in the opposite side.

The fingers 22 are preferably downturned at their outer ends as indicated at 22 in Fig. 2, and one of the fingers 22 may be reversely bent and extended vertically to form a handle 13 by which the fingers 22 may be moved to operative or inoperative position as desired.

A flat spring -14 (Figs. 7 and S) is positioned beneath the support a1 and is provided with reduced ends adapted to be re ceived within the rectangular perforation 38 and the notch 10 previously described. The parts are so designed that the spring 4% will be positioned adjacent the lower edges of the side flanges of the support 41 when the fingers 22 are in operative position, but will be spaced slightly therefrom, thus permitting a slight free vibratory movement of the fingers 22 before positive engagement of the support with the spring 44:. After such engagement further movement of the tension fingers is yieldingly resisted by the spring, which tends to return them to normal position. \Vhenever the fingers and support are moved manually to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 9, the spring will engage one of the depending side flanges of the supportetl and will retain the fingers 22 yieldingly in inoperative position.

This provision for a slight, free vibratory movement of the tension fingers is a feature of great importance as it permits a slight yielding movement of the tension fingers which will momentarily relieve any sudden strain upon the yarn. The accumulated effect of the slight movements between the separate pairs of fingers and guide rods produces a material change in tension, and is proved in practice to prevent many breaks which would otherwise occur when drawing the yarn from cop-wound bobbins 011 which the yarn is not properly laid. The free vibratory movement has also a shaking effect upon the yarn which frees the yarn of a considerable portion of the dirt and other for eign material carried thereby.

lVithin the limit of this free vibratory movement the tension upon the yarn is a gravity tension due merely to the slight weight of the tension fingers but above the limit of free movement, the tension is mainly due to the spring 4.4. The sheet metal construction and the box-like form of the support 41 permits it to be cheaply, lightly and accurately formed entirely by punching operations.

The preferred shape of the tension guide rods 21 is clearly shown in Fig. 2, the guide rods being first bent abruptly downward and then having a more gradual upward inclination, thereby providing a depressed portion to which the yarn Y is naturally guided. The rear tension guide rod 21 may have a less depression than the other guide rods so that the yarn in passing therefrom may follow a straight path above the sup porting bar 10 to the guide G.

The tension upon the yarn Y may be regulated by raising or lowering the bracket 31 upon the depending member 30, and thus changing the vertical relation of the tension guides 21 and fingers 22. The tension may be thus varied from no tension up to several pounds, according to the class of work being performed.

Attention has been called to the sheet metal construction of many of the parts of this apparatus, which construction simplifies the manufacture and reduces the costof my improved tension device, as the parts may be produced entirely by punching and bending operations which can be performed with great rapidity.

Having thus described my invention, it will be evident that changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the claims, and I do not wish to be otherwise limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is 1. A yarn tension device comprising two cooperating series of tension members, one series being pivoted on an axis transverse to the direction of their length to facilitate threading, and means whereby one series can be adjusted toward or from the other series in parallel lines to vary the normal tension.

2. A yarn tension device comprising two cooperating series of tension members, means for yieldingly holding one series of members in operative position so that they will all move the same distance toward the 3. A yarn tension device comprising two cooperating series of tension members, means to support sa1d series in operatlve relation, one series being movable relative to the other series during the normal operation of the device, and means permitting an additional adjusting 'movement of one series straight toward or away from the other series to vary the normal yarn tension.

4. A yarn tension device comprising a stand, a plurality of guides secured thereto, a plurality of tension fingers alternating therewith, and means to support said fingers, said fingers being movable as a unit angularly relatively to said guides and be ing also movable as a unit straight toward or away from said guides to vary the yarn tension.

5. A yarn tension device comprising a stand having a plurality of guidessupported thereby, a plurality of tension fingers alternating with said guides, and means to support said fingers, said fingers being movable angularly between said guides, and said fingers and guides being also relatively adjustable directly toward or away from each other independent of said angular move ment.

6. A yarn tension device comprising a stand having a plurality of parallel guides extending laterally therefrom, a pivoted support extending transversely adjacent said guides and adjustable relatively there to, a series of fingers mountedon said sup port in position to pass between said guides, and means to retain said support and fingers yieldingly in operative or inoperative posi-, tion.

7. A yarn tension device having, in combination, a stand, tension guides fixed thereon, a support movably mounted on said stand and extending transversely of said guides, tension fingers on said support alternating with said guides, and means yieldingly positioning said support in operative or inoperative position but permitting slight free vibratory movements of said support while in operative position.

8. A yarn tension device comprising a plurality of fixed parallel tension guides, a series of tension fingers alternating therewith, a movable support for said fingers, and a'spring adj acent said support but nor.- mally spaced slightly therefrom, thereby permitting slight free vibration of said support but yieldingly resisting greater movement thereof.

9. A yarn tension device comprising a plurality of fixed parallel tension guides, a series of tension fingers alternating therewith, a movable support for said fingers, and a spring adjacent said support but nor mally spaced slightly therefrom, thereby permitting slight free vibration of said support but yieldingly resisting greater move ment thereof, said spring also yieldingly retaining said tension fingers in operative or inoperative position.

10. In a yarn tension device, a stand, parallel tension guides secured thereto, a bracket adjustable relatively to said stand, a support pivoted to said bracket, parallel tension fingers secured to said support, and a spring adjacent said support, said spring permitting slight free vibration of said fingers but yieldingly resisting greater )movement of said support and fingers.

11. yarn tension device comprising two cooperating series of tension members, means whereby one series can be adjusted toward or from the other series in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the operative surfaces of the other series, and means for yieldingly holding one series of members in operative position, whereby they will yield to any extra tension on the yarn and recede toward normal position as the extra tension is removed, for the'purpose of keeping the tension substantially constant.

12. In a yarn tension device, a supporting bar, a plurality of fixed tension guides, a stand therefor forged from a single piece of sheet metal and having a substantially L- shaped section, the horizontal part thereof having a portion upturned and notched to position said tension guides, and having a second portion downturned and recessed and the vertical part of said stand having a portion correspondingly recessed, said recessed portions cooperating to position the stand upon said supporting bar.

13. In a yarn tension device, a stand, parallel tension guides secured thereto, a bracket adjustable relatively to said stand, a support pivoted to said bracket, and parallel tension fingers secured to said support, said support having a top and depending sides and ends allformed from a single piece of sheet metal, and said fingers extending through perforations in one depending side of said support and having their ends secured in the opposite depending side.

14. A yarn tension device comprising a stand, a series of parallel tension guides secured in said stand, a depending member secured to said stand, a bracket adjustably secured to said member, a support pivoted to said bracket and extending transversely of said guides and having a series of tension fingers secured therein, and means to clamp said bracket in adjusted vertical position on said depending member.

15. In a winding machine, a supporting bar, a yarn tension device comprising a stand having a series of tension members mounted thereon, a bobbin support, and separate devices for adjustably securing said stand and said support on said bar, whereby said stand and said support may be rela tively adjusted angularly in respect to said bar to different selected positions relative to each other.

16. In a winding machine, a supporting bar, a yarn tension device comprising a stand having a series of-tension members mounted thereon, abobbin support, and means to secure said support and said stand to said bar, said support being adjustable to change'the position of the supported bobbin angularly in respect to said bar and also toward and away from said bar and said stand.

17. A yarn tension device comprising rods for supporting the yarn while threading, tension fingers alternating with said rods adapted to pass between them for providing the tension, means whereby said fingers can be moved back beyond the rods to a position at the rear ends thereof and crossing them so as to leave an unobstructed space above the rods and in front of the fingers from end to end so as to facilitate the laying of the yarn on said rods for threading the device.

18. A yarn tension device, having, in combination, two series of yarn guiding devices, one of said series being pivotally mounted, and a spring effective to hold said pivotally mounted series of devices in operative or inoperative position and to permit a slight free vibratory movement of said series of devices when said series is in operative position before said spring becomes operative.

19. A yarn tension device comprising a stand having a plurality of guides secured thereto, a series of tension fingers positioned to pass between said guides, a transverse support to which said guides are secured, a bearing for said support having its axis extending substantially at a right angle to the axes of said guides, and means permitting adjustment of said bearing to move said sup port and fingers as a unit directly toward or away from said guides to vary the yarn tension.

20. In a yarn tension device, in combination, a stand, a plurality of tension guides fixed thereto, a plurality of tension fingers and a pivoted support for said fingers, said support being of U-shaped section and being formed from a single piece of sheet metal.

21. A yarn tension device, comprising a stand, a pluralityof tension guides fixed thereto, a plurality of tension fingers, a de vice by which said fingers are mova'bly supported, and a spring effective to'hold said fingers yieldingly in operative or inoperative position.

22. A yarn tension device comprising a plurality of fixed parallel tension guides, a series of tension fingers alternating therewith, a pivoted support for said fingers, and a spring adjacent said support effective to hold said fingers in inoperative position.

23. In a yarn tension device, in combination, a stand, parallel tension guides secured thereto, a bracket adjustable relatively to said stand, a support pivoted to said bracket, parallel tension fingers secured to said support and alternating with said guides, and a spring mounted on said bracket adjacent to the finger support but spaced slightly therefrom and permitting a slight free vibration of said support and fingers.

2a. In a yarn tension device, a supporting bar, a plurality of fixed tension guides, and a stand therefor formed from a single piece of metal and substantially L-shaped in cross section, the horizontal part thereof positioning and holding said tension guides, and one end of said stand forming part of a clamp.

for holding said tension device on said supporting bar.

25. A yarn tension device comprising two series of alternating substantially parallel and horizontal guide members, one series be ing adjustable as a unit toward and from the other series, means for fixing the adjustable series in its adjusted position, and means whereby one series is movable bodily back from the other series into a position to leave the space above said other series entirely unobstructed to permit the yarn to be laid thereon from above. said movement and adjustment being independent of each other, whereby when the movable series of guide members are brought back to normal position the original adjustment will be retained.

26. A yarn tension device comprising two series of alternating substantially parallel guide members, one series being permanently located in substantially horizontal position to support a strand of yarn upon their upper surfaces, the other series being pivoted on a horizontal axis and resting by gravity on said yarn to tension it normally, and yielding means for further tensioning the yarn and resisting the rise thereof effective only after said pivoted guide members start to rise.

27. A yarn tension device comprising a plurality of tension and guide rods, a series of tension fingers pivotally mounted in operative position substantially parallel to said guide rods and alternating therewith, means for retaining said fingers yieldingly in operative position, said rods being offset downwardly to prevent deviation of the yarn in one direction, and one of them being provided with a handle extending upwardly from the end thereof to a point above the tension and guide rods for use in turning the fingers back and forth.

28. A yarn tension device comprising two series of thread guides for receiving and tensioning the yarn between them, one series of guides being pivoted on a substantially transverse axis at a distance from the plane of the other series, whereby they can be turned back away from the other guides at the rear into a position substantially at right angles to the plane thereof and crossing said other guides so as to constitute a llmiting element to prevent misplacement of the yarn in threading.

29. A yarn tension device comprising an upper and a lower series of thread guides in juxtaposition, the lower series of thread guides being pivoted on a substantially horizontal transverse axis near their ends below the upper guides, whereby they can be turned up to a substantially upright position at one end of the other series so as to leave an unobstructed space above the other series and substantially throughout their length for threading from above.

30. A yarn tension device comprising an upper and a lower series of substantially horizontal guides arranged in juxtaposition for receiving and tensioning the yarn between them, the lower series of guides being pivoted on a substantially horizontal transverse axis near their ends materially below the plane of the other series whereby they can be turned back away from the other guides into a position substantially at right angles to the plane thereof so as to leave a space above them clear to the top of said lower series when raised, down through which the yarn can be moved against the top surfaces of the other series of guides for threading purposes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aiiixed my signature.

LEWIS T. HoUeHToN.

Copies of this. patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

